Dear Mr. Walton

Editor’s Note: This poem was written to honor James Walton ’59, professor emeritus of English, who passed away in 2012 after serving on the faculty for 40 years. Of Professor Walton, who instructed the author from 1965 until 1967, Hynes said, “The man, like all good teachers, can’t be honored enough.”

Don Hynes ’69 is the author of three volumes of poetry, Slender Arrow (1998), Out From Under (2001) and The Living Dark (2006) and is a longtime reader of Notre Dame Magazine. Read more of his work at his Poet’s Journal.